The present invention relates to DC-DC converters and more particularly to an interposer electrical interface used to more closely integrate a DC-DC converter and an IC for which the DC-DC converter performs voltage regulation.
Designers of electrical systems are continuously seeking ways that allow for a reduction of system footprint, i.e., the area required for power management elements and further integration of various system functions leading to reduction of costs. In particular, the energy storage elements, e.g., inductors, consume area in a converter and it is desirable to reduce the amount of space dedicated to these storage elements.
Improvements in high performance systems have been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,247,930, discloses a power management die including a voltage regulator module (VRM) bonded to a CPU die that includes multiple cores. U.S. Pat. No. 7,268,419 describes an interposer that reduces the effects of voltage noise sandwiched between an IC and a circuit board. As described, the interposer includes a plurality of bypass capacitors integrated into the interposer and coupled between the power and ground connections for the IC device, to reduce voltage noise between the power and ground connections for the IC device.
What is needed, is a way to use an interposer electrical interface to separate devices, such as DC-to-DC converters, included in voltage regulator modules (VRMs), and ICs to which these converters are connected so as to enable circuit design wherein the converters are positioned closer to the ICs and that allows the inductor to be integrated in the interposer.